


Better Off Without You

by lilybelle34



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Amnesia, Angst, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Female Apprentice (The Arcana), Fluff and Smut, Modern AU, Roommates, Slow Burn, Yes Nadia and Portia are dating, mild danger, tags to be updated as work progresses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:42:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilybelle34/pseuds/lilybelle34
Summary: The Arcana takes a modern spin!When Portia's brother comes back to town to head the local university's residency at the hospital, Viviana finds herself in hot water. Three years ago, she woke up with amnesia from a car accident. He says he doesn't know her. Everyone hedges the question. The truth is sometimes something you don't really want to hear.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Julian Devorak/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Better Off Without You

**Author's Note:**

> OOF GUYS This is the first time I've put Viviana in writing! She was always a figment of my imagination and I had never even spoken her name before until about a month ago! AHHHH SHE'S REAL
> 
> Description at the bottom of the first chapter :)

The beginning of a school year was always one of her favourite times of the year, save the holidays. She always loved meeting her new students. Viviana was a favourite of so many students in the high school that she had so many requests to take her class she always had full days of classes. It was stressful planning so many lessons, but she enjoyed the challenge. A receptionist in the office, who was covertly dating the principal, Nadia Satrinava, cheerfully assisted her in her lesson planning and organization on the weekends. 

One late Friday night three weeks into the school year and two bottles of wine later, Viviana and Portia were sitting in Viviana’s household office organizing the first full week of classes. 

“Oh, by the way, I can’t come over tomorrow,” Portia hicked gently. Viviana, halfway through lifting her glass of wine to her lips, turned to look at her friend. 

“Pardon? I thought I had your indentured assistance all weekend for the rest of the school year,” Viviana asked, partially incensed, partially joking. Portia, her cheeks flushed from the wine, grinned innocently. 

“Oh, don’t tell me that Nadia is whisking you away for a romantic weekend before the school year is in full swing,” Viviana added, now exasperated. Portia giggled, shaking her head. 

“I wish, but no. My brother is coming into town for a few months. He’s been requested by the hospital to run the residency program here. So he had no choice but to concede,” Portia replied. Viviana gave her friend a queer look, almost forgetting that Portia did actually have a brother. 

“Honey, I’m home!” Asra Alnazar’s, Viviana’s beloved roommate, voice rang through the house, a singsong tone in his voice. 

“Asra, we’re in the office,” Viviana called back. Asra was usually out this late, Fridays being his more busy nights at the magic shop. His familiar heels clicked through the house, as he swiveled into the office. He was elegantly dressed tonight, with a white button down under a violet vest and black trousers. He wore his classic wing tip black dress shoes, hence the clicking of heels. 

The man who walked in behind him though, was someone that Viviana had never laid eyes on before. Tall, exceptionally so, with auburn hair nearly identical to Portia’s. His eyes were a piercing silver, but in his right eye, there was a ring of red around the iris. A heavy black coat hung from his shoulders, a lean frame supporting the rest of him. He too was elegantly dressed, black button down under a charcoal grey silk vest and black trousers, finished with gleaming dress shoes His nails were painted black, and his hair was tied back in a half ponytail, curls flying wildly from the elastic. He sported a heavy hematite chain and a crystal on a leather cord, no doubt a gift from Asra, as well as a few chunky rings on his hands. Above that, the start of sleeves up both arms were visible beneath his rolled up sleeves, and a heavy leather cuff sat on his thin left wrist. On his right were a few beaded bracelets and a silver chain with a small locket. 

Viviana’s heart nearly stopped. He was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. She felt her temperature rising and her cheeks flushing the longer she stared. Thankfully she hadn’t been drinking at the moment, otherwise she was sure that it would be all over her front now. The longer she looked, the more she felt exceptionally underdressed. He clearly was put together and the most she could put together tonight was a glass of wine and an old pair of sweatpants. 

While Asra took a seat at his own desk, the other man leaned casually against the doorjamb, his arms folded over his chest. 

“Well, aren’t you going to greet me, Pasha?” he asked, looking at Portia grinning. Portia, who had barely noticed his presence, did a double take. Her face changed from passive to instantaneous elation in a matter of milliseconds. His voice struck Viviana like lightning. Smooth, husky, salaciously silky lightning. She wanted to hear his voice speaking to her constantly.

“Ilya!” she exclaimed, launching herself to the door and into the man’s outstretched arms. Viviana looked to Asra for clarification, who only mouthed ‘her brother’. Immediately, lines were drawn and connections were made. This was the world famous brother who was staying with her for the residency oversight. 

“You must be Viviana,” he said, after letting go of his sister. Viviana stood, but he still towered over her by at least a head. He stretched his hand out for her to shake, and politely she took it. On the back of his long fingered hand was a strange tattoo. A heart and double crossed arrow. 

“That’s a strange tattoo,” Viviana remarked, unable to comment on anything else but what held her gaze. 

“It’s a kind of brand,” he replied. His voice, silky and smooth with a hint of roughness, instantly drew her eyes to his face. Up close, he was even more devastatingly beautiful than he was casually leaning against the door frame. Viviana nervously swallowed and pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose, a telltale sign that she was nervous. 

Behind her, Portia and Asra were elbowing each other and wiggling their eyebrows in excitement. Though both would ardently deny any involvement, it was all an intricate setup to introduce Viviana to Julian. 

“For what?” Viviana’s mouth was speaking without her consent. She didn’t want to pry into his personal life. She wasn’t like that. But around him, she felt so drawn, so intrigued by him. 

“A secret society,” he grinned, teasing her. Viviana’s cheeks coloured pink, and she shied away, removing her hand from his, long overdue. “By the by, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Viviana,” Portia said quickly, latching on to her best friend’s shoulders. “Julian, Viviana. Viviana, Julian. Mingle about. We are going to go find more alcohol. And some snacks. Don’t come looking for us!”

Portia’s voice trailed off into the hall, followed closely by Asra. Viviana and Julian were left to their own devices now. 

“So,” Viviana started, her tone dragging out the word. She felt exceptionally uncomfortable. The room was small enough as it was by oneself. Add a second very tall, very, very attractive person and it immediately became much more cramped and close-quartered than before. 

“How long have you been roommates with Asra?” Julian asked, taking a seat at Asra’s desk. Viviana found a perch on her own desk chair, her hands clasping and unclasping in her lap. 

“About three years. I woke up from a coma three years ago from a serious car accident. They didn’t know if I was going to survive or not. I was told that Asra was the only one who stood by me that whole time. He filled me in on who I was, got me my job, everything. I kind of owe him my life,” Viviana explained. All the while, Julian was looking at her with a strange look in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place. “I can’t really remember much from before that.” 

“That really sounds awful,” Julian remarked. Viviana cast him an irritated glare. 

“I don’t need your pity, thank you,” she snapped. 

“Oh, darling, I wasn’t pitying you. I was saying very frankly how much that sucks. To not be able to remember your life before a traumatic event? That really must be a shame,” he replied. Viviana looked rather taken aback. Usually, she was met with compassion and sympathy, though very shallow, for her predicament. 

But here was someone who felt little remorse for her situation. Someone that almost made a joke of it. She cast a look at him, completely unsure of what to really make of him. 

“Trust me, it’s not fun,” Viviana retorted, trying to get some kind of rise out of him. 

“I believe you. I wish there were things in my past that I  _ could _ forget,” Julian remarked, leaning back in the chair. This threw Viviana for a loop. He wanted to forget his past? What could be so bad then that he wasn’t accepting of it? That he wished he could ignore it? 

Viviana opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it, and slowly closed it. 

“What is it you wanted to say?” Julian asked, chuckling. “You can ask me anything. I’m a total open book.”

“Well, since you opened that door, what  _ do _ you want to forget?” she asked, poking the proverbial bear. 

As quickly as she said it, she instantly regretted it. Julian’s face paled, his head snapping up to face her. “ _ That _ I’m not so open about,” he hissed, his eyes flashing threateningly. Those eyes, they bore into Viviana to the point where she cou;d feel the heat from them. As cool as they appeared, they were burning her from the inside out. 

Viviana, frustrated, stood and stalked from the room, having no other response than to simply remove herself from the room. She strode into the kitchen where Asra and Portia were talking gardening tips, both of whom looked at her with piqued interest, looking between her and the room from which she had just emerged from. 

Reaching around the petite redhead, Viviana poured herself a glass of whiskey, and downed it in one gulp. It burned like fire and she coughed, but it was a good duller for the irritation she was fighting. 

“Your brother is really something,” she wheezed to Portia. Portia’s shoulders slumped, an irritated expression falling over her round, usually pleasant face. 

“What’d he tell you now? That he’s a failure? Not actually as good as he wishes he was?” Portia rattled, as though she’d been down a similar road before. 

“No,” Viviana replied. 

“I won’t open up to a stranger,” Julian said, striding in behind her. Their eyes met and Viviana only poured herself another drink. Hangover or not in the morning, at least she would have the courage, artificial at best, to deal with this prick. How could someone like Portia be related to someone so bitter and angry with the world?

“I think it best that I bow out for the night,” Julian said stiffly, surprising the others in the room, particularly Viviana. His eyes never left Viviana, regardless of whether it was her face, her profile or the back of her head. He turned on his heel and left the house, bracing the cool evening air. 

“Yeah, don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Viviana barked back, hearing the storm door open and the back door shut with a tight snap. 

Grumbling to herself as she got out the package of Oreos, Viviana settled on the couch, not realizing she had a very intrigued entourage. Asra settled himself next to his roommate, looking at her with a peculiar kind of concern. Portia looked irritated, but not with Viviana. 

“He’s a tough one, Julian,” Asra explained, taking an Oreo from the package and twisting the cookies open. Portia followed suit, dunking her cookie in a glass of milk, 

“Yeah, but he makes his problems all his own. He’s always done that, even as a kid. No one could reach him. Not even me,” Portia replied. 

“I just don’t understand how he could say ‘ask me anything’ then be all ‘yeah but not that’,” Viviana griped. She disgruntledly nibbled on a cookie, staring at the dark television screen. The three sat in a comfortable, inebriated silence for what felt like hours, nibbling cookies and quietly resenting Julians’s self-destructive tendencies. 

Portia was quietly snoring in bed next to her when Viviana woke up. She had been too drunk to drive home, so she had crashed with Asra and Viviana. She hauled herself out of bed, nursing a nasty headache and full body ache. Dragging her feet reluctantly to the kitchen, she pulled out the bacon and coffee, setting to work making each. 

“Good morning,” Asra said groggily as he walked into the kitchen. Viviana grunted her reply and blinked blearily. Without her glasses, Asra was a white-haired blur, but she swore there was someone else with him. Red hair and pale skin contrasted Asra’s white hair and caramel skin very drastically. Viviana nearly dropped the coffee pot she was holding. 

“Julian?” she asked blearily. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well good morning to you, too,” he grumbled. He strode closer to her and the closer he grew, the clearer he became. He reached out towards her, and instinctively flinching back, Viviana drew away. 

“Hold still, I have your glasses,” he sighed irritatedly. Blinking hard, Viviana found that difficult to believe. But she held still nonetheless. As he slid her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her vision became sharper, which only aggravated her headache even more. 

“Hey, let me get you something,” he said quickly, noticing her wince of pain. “Come with me,” he added, nodding to Asra to watch breakfast. Viviana, feeling no other option than to concede, followed him to the bathroom where he started pawing through the various pain relievers and other analgesics. 

“How do you know so much about my house?” Viviana asked, half groaning through the bodily ache. 

Julian let out a soft chuckle, pulling out what looked like a prescription bottle. 

“Here, take one of these,” he said, holding out his hand. Viviana placed her own in his, the feel of his skin on hers almost electric. His fingers were delightfully long, his thumb absentmindedly stroking the side of her hand as he shook the bottle into her hand. Two small pills fell into her palm, and she looked at them with concern. Taking someone else’s prescription pain meds wasn’t something high on the list of things she was comfortable doing, but Julian looked confident enough in his actions. 

“Asra takes these when he’s worked too hard. It’s just a stronger acetaminophen,” Julian explained. “Nothing more than that. Don’t worry.” 

Viviana looked up into his face. His smile was soft, his eyes gentle. He still held her hand in his, even though her fingers were curled around the pain meds. 

“Thank you,” Viviana replied. swallowing nervously. 

Her eyes were locked with his for an unexplainable reason, the draw too strong to look away from. His hand reached up, gently brushing her hair away from her face. The touch was soft, almost phantasmic. But it sent shivers down her spine nevertheless. 

“I should go wake Portia up,” Viviana said nervously, still clutching the medicine in her hand. Politely, Julian took a step back and nodded, allowing Viviana the space she needed to leave the room. 

Her heart was racing. Her mind was reeling. She walked into the kitchen to mindlessly pour herself a cup of coffee and pop the pain meds for the hangover, completely forgetting Portia in bed. 

“Oh geez, he’s got you,” Asra moaned darkly, flipping the spluttering bacon. Viviana swallowed the pills and looked at him. 

“What?” she asked, completely baffled. Asra covered the bacon and walked over to Viviana, dropping his tone.

“Ilya. He’s...an interesting character. But he’s not that great a guy. You need to really keep away from him,” he warned. Viviana was now even more confused. There was a glint in Asra’s eye that was different, dark. 

“Why? What’d he do to you?” Viviana asked, crossing her arms and leaning away. Asra sighed, his shoulders slumping.

“Viviana, all I’m saying is that he isn’t what he seems,” he sighed. He leaned against the counter next to me, folding his arms over his chest. Viviana was skeptical. Asra was characteristically protective of her. But she was still leary. 

“Did he...did he do something to me before?” she asked, hinting at the coma and car accident. Asra stared down at her with something near horror in his eyes. 

“No, why would you ask that?” he replied quickly. 

His lack of hesitancy to speak made Viviana grow even more suspicious of his actions. But the push to learn more was smothered by Portia staggering into the kitchen, her auburn curls disheveled and her pajamas askew. 

“Ugh, I am never doing that again,” she grumbled, hauling herself to the fridge and pulling out a gatorade. She cracked the bottle open and took a deep swig, sighing. Viviana couldn’t help but laugh, as Portia has done this nearly every weekend since they met. 

Julian followed, hovering in the doorway and leaning against the doorframe as usual. Asra shot him a dirty look and continued about the kitchen, finishing breakfast. 

“Are you staying for breakfast, Ilya?” Asra asked acidically. 

“No,” Julian replied. “I’m taking Portia home.”

Portia made a noise to dissent, but he put a hand up. “Pasha, you’re too hungover to drive home on your own. Come on. Grab your clothes and we’ll get going.”

Portia looked remorsefully at the bacon, then sighed, dragging herself back to my bedroom to collect her clothes. She bid us goodbye and followed her brother out the door. Viviana watched them pull out of their driveway and head down the road and out of sight. 

“He’s always been like this, for as long as I knew him,” Asra sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Viviana gaped at him. “How long have you known him?” she asked, bewildered. 

“A while,” he replied, remaining ambiguous. Viviana was left still reeling when Asra quickly left the room. 

“Wait, where are you going?” she called after him, watching him disappear up the stairs. 

“I have somewhere to go this weekend. Will you be alright on your own?” he called back down. Viviana said she was, but was left baffled. 

“Where are you going?” she asked. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back next Thursday,” he replied, reappearing with a bag of clothes. 

Viviana sighed. He was always doing this. But she was used to it unfortunately. He bustled about the bathroom gathering up this and that, throwing it all into his bag. 

He grabbed a travel mug of coffee and headed out of the door, not before giving Viviana a small, affectionate peck on the cheek. He rushed out of the door and into the grey morning, leaving her once more alone. 

Sighing as she locked the door, she headed back into the kitchen and checked her phone. 

‘ **Unknown Number** ’. She looked at the notification, and the little message symbol next to it. Curious and concerned at the same time, she opened the message. 

**U: Sorry for being a prick last night and this morning. Pasha is recovering on her own. Can I come over?**

Viviana stared at the message. Instantly, she knew who it was from. There was only one person she knew now who called Portia “Pasha”. Quickly, she saved his number before she forgot to, barely remembering to question just how he got ahold of her number in the first place. Frankly, she assumed Portia had a hand in doing such. 

**V: I guess. Why do you want to?**

**J: I wanted to apologize for being a prick in person**

**V: I still don’t understand**

There was a three minute pause before....

**J: I find you extremely attractive**

Viviana’s heart jumped into her throat. She nearly dropped her phone in the surprise that followed, and took a moment to recompose herself. He.... _ what _ ? What was that all about last night then? Was he trying to entice her with a bad boy attitude? Try to show her that guys who don’t care are better? 

She shook her head. Finding someone attractive doesn’t always mean that they like you, she reminded herself. In light of that, she found him attractive as well. 

**V: Thank you...? You’ve sent me too many confusing signals for me to properly interpret that statement**

Again, a pause of now five minutes. 

**J: Can I come over or not?**

Her fingers drummed against the back of the phone. Biting her lip, she typed out her response, hit send, and turned the phone over. She didn’t want to see his response. 

**Author's Note:**

> Viviana:  
> Gender: Female  
> Pronouns: She/Her/Hers  
> Sexuality: Straight  
> Height: 5'7  
> Age: Early 20's  
> Hair: Chestnut brown and hella curly  
> Skintone: Alabaster  
> Eyes: Glacial blue and piercing (wears glasses)  
> Body: Lean, lithe and curvy (absolutely well-endowed up top)


End file.
